Sight for fire-arms



F (No Model.)

' W. LYMAN.

SIGHT FOR FIRE ARMS. No. 348,224. PatentedAug. 31', 1886.

N PETERS Phuhrulhognph r, wasmnmn. n a

IVILLIAM LYMAN, OF MIDDLEFIELD, CONNECTICUT.

PATENT OFFICE.

SIGHT FOR FIRE-ARMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 348,224, dated August 31, 1886.

Application filed May 2-2, 1886. Serial No. 202,967. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, \VILLIAM LYMAN, of Middlefield, Middlesex county, in the State of Connecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Front Sights for Fire Arms, ot'which the following is aspecification.

My improved sight is intended more particular] y for military use. It presents a clear white surface presented by ivory, peculiarly :o secured and specially protected against being injured by rough usage. The body or main portion of my sight is of metal, as usual. I drill a vertical hole through it from top to bottom,and insert therein a cylinder of ivory, with the rear side of the upper end exhibited to the eye and beveled, while the front side of the upper end bears against and is protected by the metal. The ivory is firmly confined by forcing inward the metal at one point to press forcibly against the ivory after the latter is in place. It is also confined by other provisions, as will presently appear. The presence of the metal in front of the exposed upper end of the ivory, and partially inclosing it on each side, greatly strengthens and supports it. The bevel of the top of the ivory aids to reduce the volume exposed, and to still further diminish the already slight chances of its being struck by any object. The bevel also aids to reflect light favorably to the eye. I drill a hole transversely through the metal portion of the sight, so as to intersect the hole for the ivory, but not centrally. The transverse hole is bored first and the vertical hole for the ivory afterward. When the drill, in boring the vertical hole for the ivory,strikes the transverse hole its action is disturbed, and by reason of the axis of the transverse hole being a little in front of the axis of the vertical hole the disturbance deflects the drill out of its proper straight line. In short, the hole for the ivory is slightly bent at this point. The ivory is made as a straight cylinder, and on being forced in springs to accommodate itself to the bent condition of the hole, and is thereby still further held. After the ivory is in place a small pin is forced throughthe transverse hole, which cuts for itself a notch in the ivory, and remains engaged in said notch. This still further locks the ivory. The ivory ferred. The ivory is softened by warming before its insertion, to facilitate its accommodation to the peculiar conditions. When all is concluded successfully, the ivory shows its clear white head well protected, and is retained with absolute certainty. I narrow the ridge near the top at about the level at which the ivory begins to be exposed, so as not to show to the eye at the rear sight any metal alongside of the clear white ivory exposed.

The accompanying drawings form a part ofthis specification, and represent what I consider the best means of carrying out the invention.

Figure l is a side view of the front'endof the barrel of a military rifle with my sight in position. Fig. 2 is a section on the line a: m, Fig. 1, viewed'from the left. The remaining figures are on a larger scale. Fig. 3 is a side view. Fig. 4: is a front view; Fig. 5, a plan view, and Fig. 6, a vertical section on the line y y in Fig. 3.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures where they occur.

A is the barrel of the arm,p1"ovided with the ordinary dovetail groove,a,across its top near the muzzle.

B is my sight, certain nat-cd, when necessary, as 13. Its base is a steel block of the size and form to fit tightly in the groove (1. It is insertedby driving from one side in the manner long known and approved for sporting-guns.

B is a stout ridge of metal integral with the base and extending in the line of sight.

E is a pin of steel or other suitable material, inserted transversely through the metal portion B and cutting through a portion of the ivory.

D is a slender piece of ivory, fitted in a corresponding hole drilled through the base B and ridge 13. Its extreme top is flush with the top of B. Its entire upper end is beveled from the front rearward at an angle of about forty-five degrees, and the metal in rear of the top of D is removed, so that the top of D is exposed to the eye placed at rear sight. (Not shown.) The bevel tends to increase the reflection of light to the eye. The metal of portions being desigby additional marks,

may be notched before its insertion, if pre- B nearly half incloses the top of D and will protect it from injury at the front. The bevel reduces the chance of injury from side blows.

The base B and ridge B are formed from a single piece of steel. The transverse hole for the pin E is drilled before the vertical hole for the ivory. When the latter is bored, it is crooked at the point where the transverse hole' has been previously drilled. This is a wellknown effect of boring across a cavity which is not central. I make no claim to the discovcry of this fact. When theivory D, originally straight, is forced into this crooked hole, it is bent, and the strain thus induced aids to hold it. The insertion of the transverse pin E further locks it. I employ still further means to secure the ivory, which is originally a cylinder ofa size and length to easily match the hole in the metal portion B B. After its insertion the metal of B is pressed inward at one or more points. This compression may be attained by the use of an ordinary prick-punch and hammer. Supporting the sight firmly in asuitable holder, I apply a prick-punch at the point li and striking it one gentle blow force inward the metal at that point. Before inserting the ivory I raise the temperature of the parts to about one hundred and fifty degrees, (150.) This has the effect of increasing the toughness, both of the metal and of the ivory, and allows the slight change of form without risk of fracture. As ordinarily constructed, the metal will be considerably depressed on the outer surface, and appreciably forced inward at the innersurface corresponding thereto. This latter change of form will induce a strong pressure of the metal against the ivory at that point and indent the ivory to a slightextent. This aids to lock the ivory. I have represented the sight as having been also turned over and correspondinglyindented by another blow with the prick-punch on the opposite side of B. This may be preferable in some cases, but one indentation will usually be sufficient to insure the reliable holding of the ivory under all possible contingencies.

The front portion of B, extending upward to an even height with the top of the ivory D, protects the latter against being struck and injured in any ordinary rough handling of the arm. The upper front corner of B is rounded off. In case, notwithstanding the protection afforded, the upper end of the ivory becomes broken oif or otherwise seriously damaged, the sight may be made to serve by forcing up the ivory a little distance despite the severe pressure by which it is restrained, and again finishing the top.

Modifications may be made in the forms and proportions.

Parts of the invention may be used with some success without the whole.

Instead of making the hole crooked and with some success a straight hole and force thereina crooked piece of ivory. It is only essential, to realize the benefit due to that portion of the invention, that the hole and the ivory shall be so nearly of the same form that the ivory will notbe broken, and yet so different that the ivory will be sprung forcibly,thus inducing a binding force, which aids in its rctention.

I can dispense with the base B, made separate from the barrel, and can forge the ridge B in one piece with the barrel, or can braze or otherwise immovably attach it.

For ordinary practice I prefer to make the height of the ridge B about three-sixteenths of an inch, and its thickness about three thirty-seconds of an inch. The ivory may be about a sixteenth of an inch in diameter. The indentation at the point b* may be slight.

I can taper the ivory and the hole which receives it. I can employ astraight cylindrical hole and aplain cylindrical ivory and rely upon the indentation at the point If to hold the ivory; or I can dispense with the indentation and depend on the crooking of the hole, or on the transverse pin, or both. I prefer to construct all the parts and apply them to gether, as shown.

What I have described as ivory may be elephant-tusk or Walrus-tnsk, bone, or other hard and durable material which will show a clear light ground without glittering. I prefer elephant-tnsk.

I claim as my invention 1. In a gun-sight, an ivory cylinder, D,combined with and tortuonsly held in a vertical aperture in a metal sight, B,the front surfaces of the cylinder being supported and protected by upwardly-projecting portions of said sight, all combined forjoint operation, as set forth.

2. In a gun-sight, the combination, with a metal sight, B, having a vertical apcrture,the front wall of which extends higher than the rear wall, of an ivory cylinder supported and held in said aperture, whereby the front and a portion of the sides of the sight are supported by the metal part B, while the rear face is exposed to the vision, as specified.

3. The guu-sightdescribed,consisting of the sight B, cutaway at the rear, and having a vertical tortuous cavity and a transverse hole arranged out of line therewith, but so as to intersect, and the ivory cylinder D, beveled, as shown, and held in the said vertical cavity by locking-indentations b as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, at New York city, New York, this 28th day of April, 1886, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM LYMAN.

Witn esses:

CHARLES R. SEARLE,

driving in a straight piece of ivory, I can use M. F. BOYLE. 

